Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. It is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in the elderly people, both of individual and community perspective. Osteoporosis affects an estimated 75 million people in Europe, the United States and Japan.
The number of postmenopausal women has been increasing steadily with the ageing population. One of the most common types of osteoporosis is associated with menopause. Annual losses of 2-6% of bone mass have been reported to occur in women in early postmenopause.
Conventional estrogen preparations are currently used for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. One such preparation is a sequentially administered preparation containing 2 mg of estradiol valerate combined with 10 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate (Divina®, Orion Corporation, Espoo, Finland).